Electropolis: Improvisational Songwriting
posted in: Features
Okay, so you’re at your digital audio workstation (DAW) ready to make a killer tune. You’ve been playing around with your setup and put together an awesome loop or two, but now you’re wondering (or maybe even confused about) the direction the song is heading in. Let’s face it, we’ve all been there before, and have even said, F*** it, thus leaving a perfectly awesome loop useless for public display. Unfortunately, these dry spells can be difficult to overcome without prior conceptualization. However, there are a couple of simple techniques from that boring thing we call music theory that are pretty helpful for improvisational song-writing”in fact, these ideas can be applied to any genre, style or whatever ‘word’ music’s typically categorized under.
Musical dynamics and phrasing are two essential aspects of composing that all musicians take into consideration either consciously or not. Dynamics simply refers to the volume of sound, as well as its the stylistic execution over an entire composition. A “phrase” consists merely of a single loop and the term “phrasing” refers to the organization of two or more loops. For the most part, both of these “theories” require a macro perspective verses a micro. To simply put it, whenever you create a loop, you’re engaging in a detailed micro process of song-writing. When you organize a series of loops, you’re viewing the production from a macro standpoint. The problem we’re referring to regards the initial creation of a direction to “phrase” your loops. Therefore, if you’re experiencing this common dilemma, try experimenting with “dynamics” to inspire new ideas for musical direction. Hey, it may be your bus ticket to somewhere other than the sixteenth repeat of a single loop.
For example, lets say you made a loop and want to accomplish one the following: a) create another verse, b) transition a loop into a rhythm change, c) go for a key change, d) create a break down or build up, e) increase the emotional impact of the chorus. The easiest way to trigger inspiration for all this stuff is by channeling your instruments/devices through a mixer to experiment with muting and soloing particular tracks. Another way is by making a minute’s worth of copies and mapping your MIDI controller to your synth or device’s Filter, LFO, Mod Envelope, Filter Envelope or any other parameters your wish to test out.
From here, it’s pretty straight forward. Simply play the track and see what comes out. Essentially, alternating these parameters effects the dynamics of the song, as well as the tonation of the instrument. You can really get complex with this stuff and create some radical changes, however it’s not aways necessary. Remember, music is meant to be listened to so use your own judgement about the appropriate time to get wild. Plus, the unexpected is what creates that sought after emotional punch in the face. The point of these experiments are to inspire your compositional direction and if you come across another way of essentially playing the same thing, simply record the loop with the desired alternation.
Once you’ve created a couple different versions of the loop/s using dynamic and parameter alterations, try to become aware of too much repetition. As stated earlier, experiment with muting tracks and devices via mixer to break any repetition. However, don’t be afraid to completely change up various musical aspects such as the bass line, melody, chord progression or rhythm. Just make sure a radical change is reasonably spaced apart and is used as a new section within the song’s form. (e.g. a bridge or breakdown.) Phrasing these newly created loops shouldn’t be super difficult after you’ve played around and automated dynamic alterations and articulations via synth parameters.
Here’s a few suggestions for transitional phrasing:
1. To create a powerful “build up” using a “bass warp”, plug-in an external envelope filter into a bass or a reasonably low-pitched mono or poly synth. Map your MIDI controller to the filter’s frequency parameter and control the warping effect after you’ve adjusted the filter’s envelope amount, velocity and/or resolution to noticeably hear the effect.
2. If you like symphonic stuff and are using chords that are held for at least a whole or half note value, try copying the chords played in the last bar into the track of a new synth. Then use a string orchestral patch or something similar to fill up a lot of musical space for a very smooth transition. Similar to the first example, plug-in an external envelope filter, and edit its frequency, envelope amount, velocity and/or resolution to whatever you’d like. However, gradually control its frequency from low to high using your MIDI controller.
3. Merely use drums fills or combine them with one of the above ideas on the last bar of the loop. If you combined a drum fill with one or both of the above ideas, you’ve created another build up. However, if you merely use the drum fill with a very light ambient textural patch or something, it would be considered a “break down”.
4. If you have a melody line, you can create a simple break down by cutting out everything within the last bar except for the melody itself. You could use a bass line as well, or any sequence of individual notes for that matter. Just make sure it flows due to its common use throughout the song.
Below is an audio demonstration w/ step-by-step analysis of dynamic & phrasing techniques.
OurStage’s SM & A priori recently competed in the Electronica Channel last month (January). Besides being an awesome tune, their song Sweet Life contains a lot of the dynamic alternations using those mapped parameters we were talking about. In addition, the track was composed with good phrasing and incorporates a bridge that we can discuss.
When the song starts, you can easily hear the dynamics build up. Its intro simply comprises of a bass line, one chord and a lead piano part. These continue throughout the song and were likely to have been apart of the original loop. But why give all your ideas away at the start when you can just progressively transition into the climax? It’s called efficiency.
From 0:00 to 0:15, Sweet Life begins teasing us with chords comprising of an orchestral string patch followed by the thumping bass drum coinciding a slightly altered bass line. When the drum and new bass line kicks in, a lead synth starts hitting us on the down beat for dramatic effect. From 0:15 to 0:37, the loop repeats a few times before pushing us into the first verse. This verse is essentially the same loop used in the intro, but with added hi hats, arpeggiators and vocal samples taking dominance. Notice how it only takes a few instruments to express that surreal emotional punch we were talking about earlier.
- SM & A priori
At 1:00, some seemingly complex stuff occurs with a bridge. However, it’s merely the same instruments heard in the previous loop, just less of them and a chopped up bass line. In addition, they switched the bass drum playing the down beat to the snare. Also, the arpeggiator from the previous verse continues identically to the previous verse. From here, it was just a matter of recording one additional poly synth with its hits on the upbeats.
After rejuvenating your ears with some funk, the bridge leads back into the original verse again. Following, the song goes into another bridge that contains the same rhythm as the previous one, but with a different drum patch and new piano improve to add some flavor. At 3:00, you can hear the song mute everything except for the piano on the last bar of the bridge, providing a good example of the fourth suggestion stated above. This break-down gets us back into the groove with yet another punch in the face”eventually fading out.
So there you go. Feel free to utilize any of these basic tips and try experimenting with what we learned from SM & A priori! For those that already known this stuff, this article is a helpful reminder. When it comes to making music, there’s a million things to remember, but the fundamentals is where it’s at. Get them down and you’ll be jamming with the best.
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